Russia
Complains of
Fund Shift
from UNMIK in
Mitrovica, UN
Has No Answers
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 21,
updated Aug 22
-- During the
Kosovo debate
in the UN
Security
Council on
Tuesday,
Russian
Ambassador
Nikita Zhukov
said Russia
opposes the
"so-called new
administrative
office" in
north
Mitrivica,
saying it will
be covered by
funding
previously
earmarked for
parts of the
city through
UNMIK, the UN
mission in
Kosovo.
At
least that's
how it was
translated. Video
here, from
Minute
1:24:30.
But
the web
site for the
Office is
literally
under
construction,
saying
"Mitrovica
North
Administrative
Office: The
content
for this part
of the webpage
is being
prepared.
Please visit
us at a later
time." (Kosovo
does not have
its own
Internet
domain.)
Inner
City Press
went to the
UN's noon
briefing and
asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
if UNMIK
deferring to
this new
office, and
the shift of
funds, was
consistent
with Security
Council
Resolution
1244 and with
UNMIK's role.
Nesirky
said
he would look
into it. But
UNMIK envoy
Farid Zarif
never did a
stakeout to
take
questions, and
no answer was
received from
Ban's
spokesperson's
office by 6 pm
on Tuesday.
Nor
did that
office every
answer Inner
City Press
question, just
after Ban
Ki-moon's
whirlwind
visit to
Serbia, of his
response to
the request
that the UN be
more involved
in the
negotiations.
Ban's deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey said the
UN would wait
for the new
Serbian
government.
Russia's
Zhukov
on Tuesday
said his
country
supports the
new
government's
request that
the UN be more
involved. But
where is the
UN's response?
And there's
are other DPKO
answers still
awaited. Watch
this site.
Update
of August 22,
2:52 pm --
more than 24
hours after
the question
was
asked, the
response below
came in:
In
response to
your question
yesterday on
Kosovo, you
may have
confused
the issues at
hand.
The
funds you
referred to
are generated
by Kosovo tax
revenue. They
were
previously
administered
by the UN
Administration
in Mitrovica,
or
UAM. However,
Pristina
authorities
have now
established
their own
facility to
deliver
municipal
services to
northern
Mitrovica and
no
longer need to
rely on UNMIK
for this.
The
second issue
is the
suggestion, by
the Serbian
side, that the
5th
committee
should
increase
UNMIK's
funding so
that it can
take over
some of the
functions no
longer
executed by
EULEX after
its recent
restructuring.
This is a
decision for
the Security
Council, which
has
not pronounced
itself on the
matter.
The
second issue,
about the UN
Budget
Committee, was
raised by
Serbia.
The complaint
about the new
administrative
office
(Responsive
Paragraph 1,
above) was
made by
Russia's
Ambassador
Zhukov in the
open meeting
on August 21.
And the
response is
not only to
question
whether UNMIK
can just
renounce these
functions, but
also whether
the UN has in
any way
studied if
residents will
accept the
functions
being
performed by
the Kosovo
authorities.
What's the UN
for? Watch
this site.
, 
